The Bush Doctrine has been highly contested in international law ever since it was implemented as the US’s National Security Strategy after 11th September, 2001. More than a decade later, this book explores whether the Bush Doctrine has led to a change in international law.
Certain elements of the Bush Doctrine, like its claim to both pre-emptive self-defence and self-defence against states who harbour terrorists, stretch far beyond the traditional scope of the right to self-defence. Moreover, examining state practice before and after 9/11, the author comes to the conclusion that the Bush Doctrine is not an ‘invention’ of the Bush administration, as other US administrations and states have used the same arguments.